The 1,000 or so in the Homestead-Miami Speedway grandstands on Sunday for NASCAR's Dixie Vodka 400 were part of a monumental moment in American sports. The invited military personnel and first responders, their families, New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara and at least one diehard NASCAR fan were among the first to watch a live professional sporting event as spectators since the coronavirus pandemic initially put sports at a standstill in mid-March and caused drastic changes to regular, day-to-day life.
They received a true South Florida summer welcome.
90-degree heat. Unpredictable (yet completely predictable) weather. A pre-race message from Pitbull ("God bless. Stay blessed. Dale"). A rainbow before rain actually touched the track. More than four hours of delays.
And though it all, eventually and in spurts, the 267-lap race they were invited to attend.
It ended with Denny Hamlin edging out Chase Elliott for the win in what became a two-driver race over a wild final 50 laps. Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick also made late pushes to finish third and fourth and within two-and-a-half seconds of Hamlin.
Hamlin, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota, also won the first two stages of the race as the leader through 80 and 160 laps, respectively. He's the first driver in the Cup Series this year to sweep all three stages of a given race.
But it took a bit before the race could fully get underway.
The Dixie Vodka 400, the final of four races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was originally scheduled for a 3:56 p.m. start, but mist on Turn 4 and lightning in the area resulted in a 55-minute delay.
When the green flag to start the race finally came at 4:51 p.m., it lasted five laps. More lightning. More delays, two hours and eight minutes worth. The 38 cars sat at the end of pit road, covers on, drivers out.
There was a tease midway through that delay with drivers re-firing their engines only for another bolt of lightning to strike within 10 miles of the track, which forced NASCAR to restart its 30-minute timer.
7:10 p.m.: The race is under a green flag again following the pace laps ahead of the restart. They made it to Lap 33. Lightning struck again. Another 38 minutes under a red caution and an hour overall before the race resumed to a sunset beyond Turn 1 with about 250 fans still at the track.
The race continued under the lights and into the night.
"It's going to get cooler as we go," Hamlin said before Stage 2 began. "We're going to try our best to keep up with it."
Hamlin had no problem adjusting, leading 138 laps throughout the race including the final 30 to claim his Cup Series-leading third victory of the season.
